Tag: Phil Collen

Def Leppard – ‘X: World Tour (2003)’ – Tour Book

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On July 30, 2002, Def Leppard released their album ‘X’. Which is either “X” or “Ten” depending on what you want to call it. It was the band’s 8th Studio album, but 10th album released to date. It saw the band take a lighter side to their rock and had some people calling it “The Love Album”. It went to #11 on the charts and spawned 3 singles, but failed to ever garner Gold or Platinum status.

The Tour started in June of 2002 and went until November 2003 where the band performed 163 shows which is quite impressive for an album that didn’t do that well. It was the last really BIG tour the band has ever done. Since that time, the longest a tour has lasted was around 100 shows. My Tour Book is from the 2003 leg of the Tour

Since this was 2003, it was not a good year for me to see shows since my wife and I had our first child that year. There was no way I was getting out to see a show as the schedule was too hectic. I hate I missed it, but I survived. Since I have no ticket stub to show you this time around, let’s get right to the book.

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Def Leppard – ‘Adrenalize: The 7-Day Weekend Tour’ (1992/1993) – Tour Book

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Def Leppard released their album ‘Adrenalize’ on March 31, 1992 to massive success. The album sold 4 million copies and went to #1 in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in Swtitzerland. It spawned 6 singles and in a time when 80’s Rock was dying out, somehow, Def Leppard still succeeded.

It was the first album without Steve Clark on guitar and would be the first tour without him as well. The tour kicked off with a club show in Dublin, Ireland on April 15, 1992 and was the first with Vivian Campbell on guitar. It was also a warm-up for the massive Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on April 20, 1992 which would see Def Leppard perform to over 70,000 people and technically introduce the world to Vivian Campbell. It was a rip roaring success. The tour then officially started on May 19, 1992 in Madrid, Spain and would last the rest of 1992 and not end until September 1993.

Some of the opening acts were Ugly Kid Joe, Thunder and Terrorvision (who I know nothing about). It was a massive success as usual as the performed In the Round again and as you’d expect, I did catch the show on November 24, 1992 at the Omni in Atlanta, Ga.

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Def Leppard – ‘Hysteria U.S. Tour 1988’ – Tour Book

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It has been awhile since we’ve gone through a Tour Book and this time around, we have a three set series on Def Leppard Tour Books. Only 3 because that is all I have at this time. And we are kicking it off with the band’s biggest tour, Hysteria. The Tour ran from 1987-1988 and I saw it 3 times. Yep, three times. Twice in Atlanta, one of which I won on a Radio call-in show, and once in Chattanooga, TN because we had to see them again.

Looking back, what was great about these shows is that I got to see Steve Clark play as he passed a few years later. The band was Joe Elliott, Rick Allen, Rick Savage, Steve Clark and Phil Collen and the album Hysteria was their biggest selling album of all time going Diamond with well over 12 million copies. It spawned an impressive 7 singles and they were the biggest band in the world at that time. They are still one of my favorite bands of all time and why I didn’t buy a tour book back then is beyond me…probably because I was a broke high school student…we will go with that. So, here is the book in all its glory…

The cover is above as the header and if you notice the triangle cut out. When you open it, you get to see the same concert shot wrapped by the Hysteria album cover.

Unlike a lot of Tour books, we don’t get an individual band member page talking about each member. Basically every page has all the members as it is a band…

This next page give us a little history on the band from the release of the ‘Hysteria’ album up to the 1988 leg of the tour. It is a nice long essay that is a must read.

More and more band shots…

This next one has a little flap on the right side…

And when folded out, changes the picture to this…

Now we are to the page where the band thanks the road crew. This time they take it a step further and give you pictures of the road crew which I think is an awesome touch!!

And lastly is the Merch page and one last band photo…

Oh yeah, can’t forge the back cover…

And that is everything. I hope you enjoyed the walk through the book and we have two more Tour Books to go through over the next couple weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Thanks for hanging around.

Here is a list of all the Tour Books we have reviewed over the years. Links are provided so you can go see some history.

Alice Cooper:

Kiss Tour Book Series:

Bon Jovi:

Rush:

Def Leppard:

  • Def Leppard – Hysteria U.S. Tour (1988)

ENGINEER AND MIXER RYAN WILLIAMS ON THE SATURDAY LEBRAIN TRAIN

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Mike LeBrain and I will be interviewing a well-respected engineer and mixer in the music business who started out working with one of the biggest producers of all time Brendan O’Brien. Not a bad way to learn the business. Join us why we walk through Ryan’s career and all the great bands he has worked with and some interesting stories about some things that happened along the way. By the way, Ryan is my brother-in-law so I know the deep dark secrets…kidding…or am I?????

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and John Snow

Saturday July 3 – Episode 74 – Ryan Williams

Have you ever had anything with your name on it nominated for a Grammy award?  Ryan Williams has — for his work on Train’s Drops of Jupiter, Velvet Revolver’s Contraband, and Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger.  And we’ll be talking to him about it on Saturday’s LeBrain Train.

Join John Snow and I for this special Saturday episode with a very in-demand engineer.  How much demand?  Well, besides Stone Temple Pilots, he’s either engineered or mixed for Matt Nathanson, 3 Doors Down, Lifehouse, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Pearl Jam, Outkast, Staind, Michelle Branch, The Panic Channel, Phil Collen’s Delta Deep, Korn, Static-X, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Biffy Clyro, 10 Years, Atreyu, Mastodon, Billy Idol, P!nk, Sugar Ray, Deftones, Adam Lambert, Coheed & Cambria, The Black Dahlia Murder, Bush, Neon Trees, and Beck.  He even has a co-write on a Kelly Clarkson song.  Is that enough demand for ya?

This is going to be a great chance for us to pick the brain of a guy who has literally worked with the biggest names in modern music.  You do not want to miss this one — catch it live so we can ask Ryan your questions!

Saturday July 3, 1:00 PM E.S.T. on Facebook:  MikeLeBrain and YouTube:  Mike LeBrain.

Def Leppard – ‘The Collection, Volume 3’ – Album Review

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After a year since the release of The Collection Volume 1, Def Leppard released Volume 2.  It wasn’t until 2 years later that we finally received Volume 3. I believe the delay was due to the Covid-19 virus so I will forgive them for the delay. And as I did with the first two in the collection, I bought the Vinyl edition. And this was one was crucial to do that because these albums were not available on vinyl so it was even more of a must have buy. You can read those reviews here… click on The Collection Volume 1 and The Collection Volume 2.  As I normally do with these box sets, I focus mostly on the packaging and the bonus material as the main albums we all know and love or we wouldn’t be buying this set.  I want to know if we are getting a bang for our buck on the whole package.

Look at all the albums and songs you are getting. There are 3 Studio albums and 3 albums of bonus material and there a total of 9 LPs in the set as 3 of the albums are double LPs.  It is heavy and chock full of great tunes that will give you hours and hours of fun. I always save the sticker that is on the plastic wrapping and this time is no different.  Here is a summary of the box set.

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‘Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History’ by Ross Halfin – Book Review

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I stumbled across this book at a store called 2nd & Charles. They sell used books, games, cds, vinyl, you name it. I was browsing the book section, in the music section of course, and stumbled across this beauty. As you know, Def Leppard is one of my favorite bands and I will grab anything I can find by them or about them. And this was write up my alley because it is a picture books and few words because me no like words, reading bad!! Picture books are more my speed.

This particular book is called ‘Def Leppard: The Definitive Visual History’ and all the photographs were taken by the legendary rock photographer, Ross Halfin. Ross has photographed Def Leppard literally since the band started way back in the late 70’s. He is the only photographer to be there basically for every step of the way. This book is a beautiful chronological story of Def Leppard told in photos. And if a photo can speak 1,000 words than this books has millions of words.

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Def Leppard – “Make Love Like A Man” – 12″ Picture Disc

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On one of my recent trips to record shop, I scored a couple picture discs by one of my favorite bands, Def Leppard. The one we are going to talk about first the 12″ Single Picture Disc for the song called “Make Love Like A Man” off the band’s 1992 album ‘Adrenalize’. The store I bought this at is called Noble Records and is one of my favorite local record shops in Charlotte. Noble Records has a YouTube channel and he constantly posts videos of collections he has bought and what he will be putting out on the floor. When he has big collections purchased, they usually go out on a Saturday at 10am. I was watching the video and he quickly flipped past the two Def Leppard picture discs as I could tell he isn’t a fan…but I am. I knew immediately I had to have them.

I got up on Saturday, mask in hand and headed to the store. The store was packed and actually made me a little nervous. However, everyone was wearing masks and being polite. Although I am not 100% sure we were following perfect Covid social distancing protocol, I was willing to take the risk. I went in and told Dillion what I was looking to get and he told me where they were (if they were still there and someone didn’t already have them in hand. I went through that stack and lo and behold, they were still there. I grabbed them, paid for them and got out in maybe 5 minutes and immediately hand sanitized my hands. I was so excited to grow my Def Leppard collection a little more.

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Def Leppard Funko Pop! Figures

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I know, I know…what am I, 5 years old!! At least that is what my wife thinks, but when I saw these at the store and for only $5 a piece, I had to have them. Why? Because it is Def Leppard and I like collecting things that are Def Leppard.

Yes, Funk Pop! have released a set of figurines for each current member of Def Leppard. And they do a pretty good job on getting it right, but I have a few complaints. First, who do they have?

Joe Elliott…

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My Sunday Song – “Blood Runs Cold” by Def Leppard

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For My Sunday Song #157, “Blood Runs Cold” from the 1996 album ‘Slang’ is our song of discussion this week.  The song is certainly a deep cut as it was never a single and not sure if they played it live.  ‘Slang’ was a highly underrated album and was at a time when Grunge had killed the 80’s rock so Lep went out and did their own thing.  Most people wanted more of the same, but this was from it. This song is a ballad, but not like any ballad they had done before.

The song is another tribute to their fallen comrade, Steve Clark.  “Blood Runs Cold” was written by Joe Elliott and Phil Collen and this is the second tribute they had written for Steve, the first being “White Lightning” which we discussed several weeks back.  This one was a cold, feeling ballad full of sadness and emptiness for missing their friend.

It really is a dark song and I love how the bass playing by Rick Savage is really the focused instrument.  Just give a listen to how he plays the song and how the notes are hit with the right tone and timing.  He does a stellar job with this song.

Joe’s sadness shines through as he sings the lyrics and I love in the middle of the song, Phil’s backing vocals sound amazing and adds an extra level of pain to the lyrics with his delivery of the lyrics.  Then the guitar solo also has the sad feel to it as well.  It is really a heartbreaking song especially when you listen to the lyrics.

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My Sunday Song – “Paper Sun” by Def Leppard

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For My Sunday Song #153, we are exploring the great song “Paper Sun” from the band’s 1999 album ‘Euphoria’.  The song was released as a single in the U.S., but to little fanfare despite it being one of the best songs on the album.

The song is about the Omagh terrorist bombing on August 15, 1998 in Northern Ireland.  Here is what wikipedia says about the bombing…

It was carried out by a group calling themselves the Real Irish Republican Army, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who opposed the IRA’s ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement. The bombing killed 29 people (including a woman pregnant with twins) and injured some 220 others, making it the deadliest single incident of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Lyrically and musically, the song is very dark and sad.  At over 5:26 minutes, the song takes you on a journey through the emotions of that sad day.  It feels like they are losing hope in humanity and in life.  The world is so fragile as if made of paper that could burn up in an instant.  Lyrics, like “Do you still hear ’em screamin'” is full of the pain that one would feel if they were at the bombing and could hear the cries for help and the cries of sorrow for those lost.

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